Why was I told off for saying 'To whom it may concern' in an email to client's customer?

[autisticconsultant]

Just joined this year

I basically cc'd a customer into an email chain where a bunch of client employees were discussing how to best help the customer

Then some lady from the client complained to my manager and said I shouldn't have

She also said me emailing a pair of managers 'To whom it may concern' sounded frosty and unprofessional (?)

I used 'to whom it may concern' bc my email was addressing a bunch of people in senior positions and I thought it was more professional than going 'Dear X, Dear Y, Dear Z, Dear A' or 'Hi all'

My manager told me that essentially the lady felt annoyed that I gave this client problem without trying to sum up the problem myself and present her with some action points and her complaints re the To whom it may concern email were to do being put off by the massive problem I gave her re the client

Utter bollocks.

It’s very common and seen as polite where i’ve worked (the 2 biggest companies in their industry).

It’s also not something someone would generally respond to either via email. You would respond with details about the actual email contents, not ‘actually i’m not well thanks as i have terminal cancer’.

So what is the answer here when the issue is that a paying client hasn’t received good service?

Aside from the fact there is a ND board, your post suggests you haven't read through the 9 pages of the thread, as many, many people have offered advice and help.
she also had help on the other 2 threads she started.
But the OP is just rude to people offering help.

You can be Autistic and not be rude you know. Most people are.

@DoughBallss , That's awful. An e-mail can't find someone well. If you sent that to me, you'd have pissed me off before I'd read the body of your message.

Would you telephone somebody and say 'Hello Name, I hope this phone call finds you well'?

Cherryon. Yes everyone’s needs should be accommodated where possible, but surely you have to be able to do the job to the expected standard, regardless.

I have dyscalculia. I literally can’t make sense of all but the most basic addition and subtraction, using a calculator. No matter how much accommodation was made, I could not work in a position where anything other than this was necessary and for that reason, I’d not apply for a job that it would be impossible to do competently. I can’t follow directions or make sense of maps and Sat navs confuse me totally. I wouldn’t apply for a supply job or one that needed me to not be office or home based. Give me masses of support and I’d still not be able to do this.

You have to be aware and realistic about your ability to do a job. No amount of accommodation will mean you will be able to work effectively, if you have no aptitude for it.

But that's your particular quirk. In general, it's a very standard way of doing things and you getting randomly offended doesn't change that. You wouldn't sign off a phone call with Warm Regards or Best Regards either.

@ironedcurtain , an e-mail is inanimate, so it can't find anything.
The phrase is unnecessary padding and comes across as unauthentic.
It's not 'my particular quirk'.

Re-worded as 'I hope you are well.' is fine. It's still padding but is a social nicety.

I wouldn't end an e-mail with 'Warm regards' or 'Best regards'.

I don't get randomly offended; I believe in writing clearly and concisely.

It's just a legacy from "I hope this letter finds you well", when letters took days to arrive and sometimes recipients had to be tracked down. In the same way, nobody actually finds their recipient "dear" any more, in this age of pervasive and impersonal communication, but we still use that.

I also wouldn't end an email with "best regards" or "warm regards" (and if I had a choice I wouldn't even use any sign-off), but I don't have the time to get offended over the hundreds of emails sent to me that end in that manner.

You might personally find it annoying but it's really not a faux pas or anything.

A letter is inanimate and can't find anyone either.
If you think it's OK to use phrases like that, you do you.

Would you telephone somebody and say 'Hello Name, I hope this phone call finds you well'?

I've made half a dozen work phone calls today. For every one of them, I've said who I am and it has been 50:50 between the people I was phoning asking how I was before I got to ask them, and me asking how they were, before they asked me. Perfectly normal social etiquette, just the same as a pleasantry at the start of an e-mail.

@NewName24 , that is being polite and is quite normal.
I have nothing against pleasantry and politeness but a statement like 'I hope this email finds you well' is annoying. 'I hope you are well.' is fine.

Yes, of course I perfectly understood your point the first time round, but if you insist on being so literal all the time, it will result in workplace and general social difficulties. Being too literal is actually something I work on with the kids I help. It's ok to be personally annoyed about something but an important social/work skill is to accept most general social conventions or metaphorical sayings as they are.

@ironedcurtain , I don't like pompous, stuffy phrases, or superfluous words.
For example, I received an e-mail that was effectively 2 paragraphs, both starting with 'Please be aware that'. Those words added nothing to the meaning, and implied pomposity and carelessness.

My work skills are fine and I do not have social difficulties. You might work with children but I'm an adult.

Phrases such as 'I hope that this message finds you well' and 'Please be aware that' would not be encouraged in corporate writing style guides. Many of the clients and employees are not first-language English speakers, and such phrases do not work internationally.

“if you insist on being so literal all the time, it will result in workplace and general social difficulties.”

This is a common trait in autistic people that they can only interpret information literally. They aren’t “insisting” on being this way, it’s out of their control. It does cause social and workplace difficulties because people like you refuse to even acknowledge they cannot control this and think they are stubbornly “insisting” on being different.

Phrases such as 'I hope that this message finds you well' and 'Please be aware that' would not be encouraged in corporate writing style guides. Many of the clients and employees are not first-language English speakers, and such phrases do not work internationally.

You are aware that not everyone works in the same roles ? That not everyone works in a 'corporate environment'?

Annoying to you, I'd actually smile if I received an email that started like that, charmingly old fashioned imo

Oh come on. 1) Context. We're on a thread by an autistic person having trouble discerning what is unacceptable and what's fine. We all, you included, know that "hope this email finds you well" may be your pet peeve but isn't actually a faux pas in the same vein as the examples OP has listed.

2. They're/we're second language English speakers, not idiots. Of course people aren't going to get confused by a common saying, and start wondering whether emails have legs etc. I may work with kids now that I've settled down in the UK but I would've been one of your previous correspondents previously, and of course standard phrases are trotted out internationally – do you expect us to write "hi hope you happy today" or something...?

Yes there is value in conciseness and brevity – and I doubt you'd find an industry which valued/values those traits more than my previous fast-paced industry – but I wouldn't say that one standard phrase contains so much jargon and padding as to be unacceptable. I can assure you every single person has their own pet peeves re boilerplate email phrases, but if you kick up a fuss over that you'd be known as "that difficult person" tbh.

@ironedcurtain , some of the customers might have little or no English and might be relying on machine translation. I wouldn't 'kick up a fuss' over it.

I put the phrase in an online translator and the result doesn't work translated.

I am based in a multicultural part of Britain so this would apply to an organisation with only one staff member or thousands. A school, for example, might have parents who can't speak English.

@KirstenBlest different context from corporate (especially MNCs) where you'd assume a minimal level of education / inferential ability. Otherwise all idiomatic communication would be totally out. Actually, 100% literal communication is often way more unwieldy and lengthy

I would not assume anything. A MNC might have employees who might be highly intelligent and have multiple degrees, but they may have hidden disabilities, or English might be their 3rd, 4th or 5th language, therefore I would not use idioms.
Clear and concise communication is not unwieldy or lengthy. It says what needs to be said.

But do you not change how you word things depending on who you you email? Yes there’s people I have a closer working relationships with and would say how are you doing or I hope you’re well. I also have customers that prefer to be addressed more formally so I would say I hope this email finds you well.

They all essentially have the same meaning so it’s really not that deep?

That memo did not make it to my international law firm. Both phrases are rife in our internal communications, including ones from the senior management to the whole firm.

Believe me, it is a very common phrase in London corporate environments. You’re right that it is clunky and doesn’t really make sense, but I assure you it is everywhere. I can tell because I see trainees adopt it, and they are trained specifically to ape the writing styles of their supervisors. They are all starting to sign off their emails with “Best, John” now too, bleurgh.